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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25871143">starting anew</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/jellijeans/pseuds/jellijeans'>jellijeans</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Kingdom Hearts (Video Games)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Character Study, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Light Angst, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Post-Canon, Pregnancy, Short &amp; Sweet, Tooth-Rotting Fluff</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 08:34:41</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,037</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25871143</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/jellijeans/pseuds/jellijeans</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>They hadn’t even known it was possible. The fear was that the time spent in the Realm of Darkness had damaged Aqua’s body so much that any life from her was doomed before it even began, that she was empty now and forever and that was that. For a while, it seemed true; there was a time after the war had ended, after everyone had gone home, that she had not been able to keep any food down, that she was rapidly losing weight and seemingly wasting away and nothing could be done to help.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Aqua/Terra (Kingdom Hearts)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>39</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>starting anew</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Terra has always been protective of Aqua.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Always, from the moment they first met when Master Eraqus brought her into the castle as a starving child; always, from when she first summoned her keyblade. Always, from when they first met Ven, knew they had to protect him. Always, from when they were stupid and eighteen and kissing on the summit at sunrise before anyone else was awake.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Always, even when their keyblades were at odds, drawn apart by two different forces.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Always, from when he guided her back, and always, from when she guided him back in return.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Always, from when she taught him how to do and think and heal like a person in his unfamiliar-and-yet-familiar-all-at-once body, and always, from when he slept by her side with his arms wrapped around her waist, protecting her from the shadows that never quite went away.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Always, from then until now, where rest and proper food and love has smoothed down the sharp lines of their bodies, still toned and muscular but no longer emaciated. No longer destroyed by the darkness in and around them. Free.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Always, especially at this moment, where her belly is rounded and edging on prominent, from what others had initially assumed was plentiful meals amidst the early autumn harvest, from what Terra had cried at when he realized what it was, from the tiny life they had fostered. Their reward for finally cleansing the world of the darkness.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They hadn’t even known it was possible. The fear was that the time spent in the Realm of Darkness had damaged Aqua’s body so much that any life from her was doomed before it even began, that she was empty now and forever and that was that. For a while, it seemed true; there was a time after the war had ended, after everyone had gone home, that she had not been able to keep any food down, that she was rapidly losing weight and seemingly wasting away and nothing could be done to help.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Terra had never been more afraid of losing her than he had been in that moment.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Still, she had recovered, slowly but surely. She started eating more food and gaining back weight and looking more and more like the Aqua he and Ven had known twelve years ago. He had staunchly refused to let her train, made sure she was getting well first and foremost—she had been fighting for twelve years, she was strong enough, training could come later—and for the most part she had agreed willingly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It had been hard, those first few weeks. The first few months, even. She was constantly exhausted, seconds away from collapsing at any moment. He and Ven weren’t much better. Ven’s muscles, unlike Aqua’s, whose were overworked to the point of destruction, had done nothing but atrophy for twelve years. Terra’s body had been abused, ripped into three parts and then recombined in a disastrous mish-mash, stolen from him for over a decade. At times, it still didn’t feel like it was his. (It still doesn’t, sometimes. Sometimes he can’t help but wonder if the person moving his body is really him, or if he has fallen into the darkness once again, lured into evil by yet another trap.) In that time they had cared for each other, </span>
  <em>
    <span>loved</span>
  </em>
  <span> each other softly, tenderly, but without restraint, and slowly, they had gotten better.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But while he and Ven had gotten consistently better, there was a point where Aqua had started to get worse again. She stopped eating, driven once again by not being able to keep anything down. She was sick morning and night for weeks on end. The training stopped. Terra’s fears returned. After the second week of waking up to Aqua, puffy-faced, stumbling out of the bathroom to get some water only to stumble back in again less than an hour later, he had practically dragged her by force off-world to go see Aerith, the one doctor they knew that was familiar with keyblade wielders.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Aerith had listened to Aqua’s symptoms, noticed the worry and desperation on Terra’s face, and almost laughed, sending them home with a pregnancy test in hand and a knowing wink. They had both been flabbergasted.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>(And then they had taken it, if only because Terra had insisted it was better to know, heart pounding up to his throat.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And then he had held her and cried, frozen with fear and excitement at the same time, terrified of fatherhood and yet enamored with it all at once. She had been the same way. There had never been a life intended for them after becoming masters, and yet suddenly it was right in front of them, present and holding on and unwilling to let go.)</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And that had led them to today. The sickness is past, and Terra thanks the light for it every day; she wakes up nauseous on occasion, but it settles quickly, and he is there for her when it doesn’t. Terra had practically kept her off of the training field by force, growing more concerned about it as she grew. As slim as she is, she had started showing early, a roundness that had first presented itself in her having to let out her corset before abandoning it entirely for lighter, more comfortable clothes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She doesn’t need to protect herself, she jokes. Terra does that for her already.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And he holds her; </span>
  <em>
    <span>oh</span>
  </em>
  <span>, he holds her, arms wrapped lovingly around the swell of her abdomen, lips her cheek when someone else is around and everywhere they can reach whenever else. He holds her like she will vanish if he lets go, and she is encircled by warmth at all times, encircling warmth of her own.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And that is what she thinks about—what they both think about. How the harsh emaciation of Aqua’s body, unique to her, unlike Terra and Ven’s bodies, frozen in time, had been slowly filled out, replaced with a gentle curve that Terra would keep his hands on forever if he could. It’s everything. Aqua’s warmth, her heartbeat, the heartbeat below that. Their little stranger who is really not that strange at all, and yet a miracle all at once.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>whew this is the first time i've written since late march but my brother and i marathoned the kh games and terraqua literally stole my heart and absolutely obliterated me emotionally</p><p>really wanted to just get some. ACHINGLY sweet fluff out for them bc they deserve it</p><p>thank you so much for reading!! come yell with me on twitter at @jellijeans !!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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